Digital Commons Network^™

Cislunar Small Satellites And The Artemis Program, James Spann

Small Satellite Conference

No abstract provided.

Double Asteroid Redirection Test (Dart): Earth Strikes Back, Elena Adams

Small Satellite Conference

No abstract provided.

Design, Fabrication, And Tuning Techniques Of Quadrifilar Helix Antennas For Small Satellites, Kelby Davis, Reyhan Baktur

Small Satellite Conference

Quadrifilar helix antennas are also called fractional turn helix is very appealing to spacecraft applications. A quadrifilar antenna offers circular polarization in its radiating hemisphere and its radiation pattern is not severely affected by a ground plane. These properties are important for closing the communication link and make the antenna relatively independent of the CubeSat frame and mounting location, which facilitates modular design of the antenna.

Although it has similar shape as a helical antenna, a quadrifilar helix antenna is fundamentally different. While there exists design theory and calculators for this type of antennas, detailed notes on design, fabrication, and …

Reuseable Orbital Transfer Vehicles: Why It Is The Future For Leo, Cislunar Space And Beyond, Roedolph Opperman, A. Drossler, Joseph Oorebeek, Victor Petitgenet, D. Buckley Biggs, Nathan Orr

Small Satellite Conference

The emerging Low-Earth-Orbit commercial economy brings exciting opportunities for technological innovation in space at unprecedented speed. This vibrant new commercial space age is disrupting the status quo, driving down costs, and revolutionizing general accessibility and sustained presence in LEO. Today, however, there is a reluctance in the space industry to embrace reusable spacecraft because of the perception of increased mission risk for no additional return on investment. This hesitation appears similar to the industry’s initial caution in adopting reusable launch vehicles in the early 2000s.

In this work we share our vision of the future: reusable orbital service vehicles (OSVs) …

Delta-Vs And Design Reference Mission Scenarios For Mars Missions, Ryan C. Woolley, Nathan J. Barba

Small Satellite Conference

Before setting out on any long journey, it is important to first have an idea about how to get there, how long it might take, and how much it will cost. Primarily, the answers depend upon where you are starting and where you wish to go. In the formulative stages of any mission to Mars, having quick estimates of answers to these basic questions will aid in the efficient exploration of the trade space. In this paper, we present a “mileage chart” of sorts illustrating the range of ΔV’s and times-of-flight (TOF) between various starting and stopping points between Earth …

Leo And The Big Blue Marble, A Bad Combination For Albedo Errors, Johan Leijtens, Hugo Brouwer, George Dimitriadis, Eric Bertels, Brian Tong Minh

Small Satellite Conference

Almost all satellites fly Sunsensors for launch and early orbit (LEOP) and safe mode operations. More than 90% of these are analogue Sunsensors with either an analogue or digital interface. The later are quite often referred to as digital Sunsensors but contrary to a true digital Sunsensor, analogue Sunsensors with a digital interface are still largely affected by albedo generated error signals.

Depending on the positioning of the sensor on the satellite, the satellites altitude, and the local node time, albedo errors can lead to significant measurement inaccuracies.

This paper describes some research into albedo induced errors in analogue fine …

Thin Cubesats And Compact Sensors For Constellations In Vleo To Deep Space, Hank D. Voss, Jeff F. Dailey, Matthew B. Orvis, Matthew C. Voss

Small Satellite Conference

ThinSat form factors have many advantages for constellations and are launched directly from all standard 1U to 27U CubeSat canisters. Currently NSL is completing two 6U constellations for launch in 2023. The Space Weather NASA SBIR Phase II consists of 4 satellites, each with dimension 7.5x10x20cm. Novel and compressed Space Weather instruments are being developed by NSL partners. Each satellite can be divided into two ThinSat sections separated by a 20 cm foldout to serve as a 1) sensor boom, 2) quiet low noise Faraday sensor box, 3) passively cooled from -40 to + 40 C platform, and 4) cleaner …

138 Propulsion Units Launched In 4 Years: A Review And Lessons Learned, David Krejci, Alexander Reissner

Small Satellite Conference

After the first launch of an ENPULSION NANO thruster in 2019 together with FOTEC1,2,3, which verified for the first time the operation of a propulsion system based on liquid metal Field Emission Electric Propulsion (FEEP) in space, ENPULSION has delivered hundreds of flight systems to 36 different commercial customers. To date, 135 additional ENPULSION NANO systems have been launched on a variety of spacecraft across different platforms and customers. In addition, the ENPULSION MICRO R3 , an increased power and thrust unit, has been developed, which was successfully demonstrated in orbit in 2021. Recently, the first new generation ENPULSION NANO …

Nanosatellite Launch Forecasts - Track Record And Latest Prediction, Erik Kulu

Small Satellite Conference

After almost 300 CubeSats were sent to space in 2017, the following 3 years saw a continued decline. While 2021 set a new record of about 326 nanosatellites launched, most published forecasts and expectations from the last 10 years about the growth about CubeSats have not come to fruition. This paper attempts to answer the question why and make a new prediction based on scheduled missions and historic trends.

First part of the paper presents the latest nanosatellite and CubeSat launch statistics. Out of over 3400 entries in the database, 2068 nanosatellites or 1893 CubeSats have been launched as of …

Design And Analysis Of Cold Gas Thruster To De-Orbit The Pslv Debris, Roshan Sah, Raunak Srivastava, Kaushik Das

Small Satellite Conference

Today’s world of space’s primary concern is the uncontrolled growth of space debris and its probability of collision with spacecraft, particularly in the low earth orbit (LEO) regions. To prevent space debris growth, measures need to be taken so that there will be a debris depletion to conserve the LEO space environment and ease the risk of collision. This concern has developed the concept of Active Debris Removal (ADR). ADR method is an effective means for the removal of space debris using an active system. One of the ADR methods that have been continuously developed over a couple of decades …

Breaking The Rocket Equation: How Refuellable Spacecraft Change The Dynamics Of Space Transportation, J. Oorebeek, R. A. Opperman, A. Drossler, D. Buckley Biggs

Small Satellite Conference

One of the chief tenets of space transportation has been the immutability of the Tsiolkovsky rocket equation, placing great emphasis on the specific impulse of a thruster to determine the propellant mass. For applications where all propellant must be carried from the start, this drives most vehicle designs to the highest possible ISP. The compromise is the typical tradeoff between ISP and thrust magnitude. Thus, transfers which require either impulsive maneuvers or a tight timeline will favor low-ISP platforms.

If adequate infrastructure is provided to allow for a refuellable spacecraft, a smaller and lighter vehicle can be used. This vehicle …

Designing The Mission Operations For The Pointable Radiometer For Observation Of Volcanic Emissions (Prove) Pathfinder Payload, Tom Etchells, Karen Aplin, Lucy Berthoud, Oliver Pike, Will Proud, David Reid, Andrei Sarua, Mark Schenk, Louis Timperley, Matthew Watson

Small Satellite Conference

The PROVE Pathfinder CubeSat payload is a 2U Visual and TIR imaging payload optimized for observation of volcanic ash clouds for 3D reconstruction. Three of the main challenges for the mission operations of payload are optimization of the observation geometry (num. images, angles, etc.), data management of a high data rate payload, and observation scheduling for sporadic eruptions. Example solutions to these problems are presented below

Enabling Big Science In A Small Satellite - The Global L-Band Observatory For Water Cycle Studies (Glows) Mission, Mark Bailey, David Long, Rajat Bindlish, Jeffrey Piepmeier, Giovanni De Amici

Small Satellite Conference

The SMOS and SMAP radiometers have demonstrated the ability to monitor soil moisture and sea surface salinity. It is important to maintain data continuity for these science measurements. The proposed instrument concept (Global L-band active/passive Observatory for Water cycle Studies - GLOWS) will enable low-cost L-band data continuity (that includes both L-band radar and radiometer measurements). The objective of this project is to develop key instrument technology to enable L-band observations using an Earth Venture class satellite. Specifically, a new deployable meta-lens antenna is being developed that will enable a smaller EELV Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA) Grande-class satellite mission …

Science Conops For Application Of Sport Mission Data To Study Large (~1000km) Ionospheric Plasma Depletions, Linda Habash Krause, Sheila Nash-Stevenson, Stephen Clanton, Rebecca L. Bishop, Charles M. Swenson, Joaquim E. R. Costa, Marcelo Banik De Pádua, Marco A. Ridenti, Luis Loures, Lidia Shibuya, Jonas Sousa Santos, Jayr De Amorim Filho, Ana Paula Schuch, Sophia Rodrigues Laranja, Guan Le, Todd M. Bonalsky, Rod A. Heelis, Mark W. Mankey

Small Satellite Conference

The Scintillation Prediction Observations Research Task (SPORT) mission is a single 6U CubeSat space weather satellite planned for an October 2022 launch into an ISS-like orbit. The primary purpose of the SPORT mission is to determine the longitudinal effects on equatorial plasma bubble (EPB) growth resulting from the offset dipole magnetic field of the Earth. By combining field and plasma measurements from SPORT with other low-altitude (i.e., alt < 1000 km) spacecraft, it is possible to investigate large-scale (> 1000 km) EPB structures. The types of investigation made possible by measurements from SPORT and other contemporaneous missions include 1) dynamics of depleted magnetic flux tubes; 2) dynamics of field-aligned EPB expansion …

The Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer (Ezie) Mission And The Microwave Electroject Magnetogram (Mem) Radiometer Instrument, Sidharth Misra, Sharmila Padmanabhan, Pekka Kangaslahti, Oliver Montes, Javier Bosch-Lluis, Richard Cofield, Isaac Ramos, Jeng-Hwa Yee

Small Satellite Conference

The Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer (EZIE) mission is a multi-satellite 6U CubeSat mission designed to temporally and spatially sample the Earth’s current induced magnetic field. The EZIE mission will help discern amongst competing theories of the spatial structures of Auroral Electro Jets (AEJ). The EZIE mission uses a unique payload design relative to traditional magnetometers; a 118.75 GHz mm-wave polarimetric radiometric system with a digital spectrometer backend, called the Microwave Electrojet Magnetogram (MEM) system. MEM measures the Zeeman split in frequency of the Oxygen absorption line that is directly proportional to the strength of the magnetic field of the observation. …

Improving Efficiency — Applying Modularity And Interface Standards To Smallsat Missions, Carrie O'Quinn, Hannah Weiher, Kara O'Donnell

Small Satellite Conference

No abstract provided.

Small Spacecraft Sample Return Mission Concept To Support Gateway And Lunar Science, Alan M. Cassell, Jeffrey D. Smith, Matthew M. Wittal, Randy D. Gordon, Jennifer G. Morgan

Small Satellite Conference

Sustaining long-term presence at the Moon will likely require innovative and cost-effective approaches for frequent and affordable payload return. NASA Ames Research Center and the Deep Space Logistics team at Kennedy Space Center (which manages the Gateway Logistics Services missions) have investigated the development of a small spacecraft-based sample return capability to complement the limited sample return capacity available with the early Orion missions. The goal is to demonstrate a cost-effective capability as part of an early Deep Space Logistics mission and provide up to 10 kg (~ 4 L volume) of scientific payload returned from the Gateway. The mission …

Two Generations Of Cubesat Missions (Csswe And Cirbe) To Take On The Challenges Of Measuring Relativistic Electrons In The Earth’S Magnetosphere, Xinlin Li, Rick Kohnert, Scott Palo, Richard Selesnick, Lengying Khoo, Quintin Schiller, Kun Zhang, Jared Cantilina, Evan Bauch, Alan Sims, Spencer Boyajian, Trace Valade, Paris Buedel, Alexander Reynolds, Josephine Johnson, Abigail Durell, Beth Cervelli, Gail Tate, Yang Mei, Michael Chambliss, Sierra Flynn, Karen Bryant, Thaddeus Baringer

Small Satellite Conference

The Colorado Student Space Weather Experiment (CSSWE) CubeSat, carrying the Relativistic Electron and Proton Telescope integrated little experiment (REPTile) to measure 0.5 to >3.8 MeV electrons and 8-40 MeV protons, operated for over two years, 2012-2014, in low Earth orbit (LEO). There have been 25 peer-reviewed publications, including two in Nature, and five Ph.D. dissertations associated with CSSWE. Another 3U CubeSat mission: Colorado Inner Radiation Belt Electron Experiment (CIRBE), has been under development to address an unresolved science question: Where is the break point in terms of electron energy below which electrons can be transported into the inner belt …

The Ultraviolet Follow-On Observatory (Ufo), Douglas Walker, Kevin France, John Martin, Ken Spencer, Dirk Terrell

Small Satellite Conference

Prime Solutions Group, Inc. (PSG) in partnerships with Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), the University of Colorado at Boulder, the University of Illinois, and the Astronomy Association of Arizona (AAA) are proposing the development, launch and operation of a 12U CubeSat mission for stellar astronomy.

The stellar observatory mission will consist of a space-based UV/optical telescope system designated as the Ultraviolet Follow-on Observatory (UFO). This proposed CubeSat will be a 12U system housing a 250mm telescope and designed for a four-year plus mission timeline in high Earth orbit. A camera capturing simultaneous UV/optical observations will first be developed and tested on …

On Asher Brown Durand's Kindred Spirits (1849), Paul Weidknecht

Appalachia

No abstract provided.

Another Goodbye, Jeffrey A. Summit

Appalachia

No abstract provided.

The Burn, John Smelcer

Appalachia

No abstract provided.

Wood Path, Kay Mullen

Appalachia

No abstract provided.

Night Feeders: Los Quetzales, Chiriquí, Panama, Marcyn Del Clements

Appalachia

No abstract provided.

In Snow, Robin Chapman

Appalachia

No abstract provided.

Teal Pond, May 4, Robin Chapman

Appalachia

No abstract provided.

A Peak Ahead: On The Mighty Colorado, Holding On Tight, Christine Woodside

Appalachia

No abstract provided.

Books Of Note

Appalachia

No abstract provided.

News And Notes

Appalachia

No abstract provided.

Alpina

Appalachia

No abstract provided.